It didn’t go the way of Sean Strickland on Saturday night but the former middleweight champion has taken his UFC 312 loss to Dricus du Plessis on the chin.
Strickland was for the second time in a little more than a year outpointed by the South African 185-pound champion in the main event of the UFC’s return to Sydney, Australia last weekend — but in the hours afterwards, and with a freshly broken nose courtesy of a fourth-round shot from the champion, the American says that he will live to fight another day.
“What’s up, guys? We’ve been here once or twice,” he said in a message posted to social media on Sunday. “I’m so grateful for you guys’ support. You guys are so awesome, win or lose, you guys always ride and I appreciate you Dricus, f*cking hats off, hell of a fight, broke my nose in six places. The silver lining is my nose is so broken it’s really easy to reset, so that was a new experience.
“I’ll be quick, I get so many messages from fans, friends, family, like, ‘Hold your head up, it’s OK.’ I’m good. Losing sucks, but we all lose in life, and I talk to so many people whether they lose their job, their girlfriend breaks up with them, and they just find themselves in this hole, but me, I love the misery.
“I love the suffering, because when you’re miserable, when you’re in pain, when you’re suffering, the moment that’s gone—and it will end, it will be a new day, a better day — life’s good. So I’m grateful and being grateful kind of keeps my head up. For you guys going through it, look at me, I just broke my nose in front of millions of people. It f*cking sucks, I lost a fight, and I’ve still got to wake up tomorrow and hold my head up and be, like, ‘Hey man, it’s a new day. Got to sack up and be a man.
“So for you guys going through it, look at me, and I hope that, f*cking, your day gets better.”
Having two defeats to a reigning champion is a tough spot to be in in a division (just ask Robert Whittaker) but there remains a long list of fighters at 185-pounds with whom Strickland can target if he is to make another run at middleweight gold, with the likes of Marvin Vettori or Brendan Allen considered as strong candidates… Or could Strickland be a viable candidate for Bo Nickal’s next uptick in competition? Over to you, UFC matchmakers.
